Oregon chose the Western Meadowlark as its state bird — a yellow-breasted grassland singer of the open country east of the Cascades. It feeds on the ground in fields, and it does not make Oregon's top 25 feeder birds.
Oregon's feeders tell a different story, and it starts with one bird far ahead of everything else.
The twelve birds Oregon feeders report most
From Project FeederWatch, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's winter count, in which volunteers record what turns up at their own feeders. The 2023–24 season had 420 participants in Oregon — a large sample, so the order near the top is reliable. The percentage is the share of Oregon feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of OR feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dark-eyed Junco | 97.2% |
| 2 | Black-capped Chickadee | 79.7% |
| 3 | House Finch | 77.9% |
| 4 | Anna's Hummingbird | 77.2% |
| 5 | Northern Flicker | 76.3% |
| 6 | Spotted Towhee | 73.7% |
| 7 | Song Sparrow | 69.4% |
| 8 | California Scrub-Jay | 67.1% |
| 9 | American Robin | 65.9% |
| 10 | Lesser Goldfinch | 64.3% |
| 11 | Downy Woodpecker | 63.8% |
| 12 | Red-breasted Nuthatch | 63.4% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
The junco is far out in front
97.2% of Oregon feeders — and the next bird is seventeen points behind. In Oregon you mostly get the "Oregon" form of the Dark-eyed Junco: a dark hood, warm brown back and pale sides. It feeds on the ground, often in flocks of eight or nine.
A hummingbird in January
Anna's Hummingbird is fourth, at 77% of feeders in a winter count. Unlike almost every other North American hummingbird, it does not migrate; it gets through cold nights by dropping into torpor. A nectar feeder kept thawed through a cold snap matters to it.
A thrush most of the country never sees
Varied Thrush is fifteenth, at more than half of Oregon sites. It looks like a robin that has been redesigned — orange and slate-blue, with a dark band across the chest — and it comes down from the mountain forests in winter, usually to the ground under shrubs.
Two chickadees and a flock of bushtits
Black-capped Chickadee is second; the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, with a rich chestnut back, is thirteenth. Bushtits — tiny grey birds with long tails — arrive at the suet in bands of ten or eleven, then leave all at once.
What is on our Oregon mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Oregon mug shows the Black-capped Chickadee (#2, 80%), the House Finch (#3, 78%) and the American Robin (#9, 66%) — three birds, all in Oregon's top ten.
The ones we would add next are the Dark-eyed Junco (#1) and Anna's Hummingbird (#4). They are on the list of designs we still owe this state.
If you want more of them
Black-oil sunflower seed covers the chickadees, House Finch, nuthatch and scrub-jay. Suet brings the flicker, Downy Woodpecker and bushtits. Seed scattered on the ground or a low tray brings in the juncos, towhees and sparrows. Nyjer holds the goldfinches and siskins. And keep a nectar feeder up all winter for the Anna's.
Where these numbers come from: Project FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Top 25 Feeder Birds for Oregon, 2023–24 season. These are volunteer reports from their own feeders, not a formal survey, and they describe the winter feeding season rather than the whole year. Percentages are the share of participating sites that reported the species; group sizes are the average when the bird was seen.
See the mugs for the other states → · Identify a bird in three questions →